Chapter 9 – Medusa
MEDUSA
Just as I expected, we do find clothes scattered around the outside of the temple, but it’s evening by the time we’re dressed.
I managed to find a yellow sundress, and Byron squeezed into clothes a size too small.
The green shirt barely buttoned over his broad shoulders and leaves spaces exposed between each button.
The khaki shorts had to be left unbuttoned at the top, and to my enjoyment, they leave absolutely nothing to the imagination.
It takes all my willpower to look away from the hunk of a man, but I'll be damned if I let him catch me staring again.
Instead, I turn my attention to the sunset above the trees.
To my surprise, the sky is strangely beautiful tonight.
I lift my sunglasses and peek below—I can't remember the last time I actually watched the sunset and noticed the way the reds and oranges stand out against the dark blue of the sky in the evenings.
My mind goes back to my apartment, my ex, and my empty life. It’s kind of strange that it took being kidnapped by gargoyles to realize just how bad things had gotten for me. When I get back, if I get back, some things are going to change.
I feel Byron staring from beside me. “What?”
"You know that your gaze doesn’t affect gargoyles. So why do you worry about your sunglasses so much? It's just the two of us."
I shrug. "Habit I guess. If someone were to come up and startle me, and then die because of it, well… I couldn't live with that."
I lower my sunglasses. Shields back in place. “I've been thinking about what I’m going to do when I get back home.”
His expression grows troubled. “You got people worrying about you?”
Folding my arms over my chest, I look at the sunset again. “Peter’s probably going a bit nuts, but other than that—“
“Who’s Peter?” he asks, frowning.
“He works for the Special Unit.” And he broke my heart. “And he worries about me.”
“You have a boyfriend in the Special Unit?” He looks shocked.
His reaction hurts. Medusa has a boyfriend? How unbelievable! Who would want to be with that disgusting monster? Who indeed?
Even though he’s kind of right.
My chest hurts as I glare at him. “Surprised?”
“Surprised?” he repeats, and his entire chest seems to swell. “And what about the nymph you were about to fuck? Would your boyfriend be happy about that?”
The venom in his voice sends rage boiling through my blood. “None of your damned business!”
I hear his teeth grind together. “Forget it. I shouldn’t have expected differently from one of your kind.”
Your kind. “Asshole.”
He turns away from me and starts walking. “We've wasted too much time here. We need to get into the temple and out of it without Eros spotting us, so keep up and keep quiet.”
“Yes, sir!” I respond sarcastically, but stand up to follow him. “And what exactly are we doing in his temple in the first place?”
He doesn’t answer me. Of course not.
I stomp through the jungle. “You know Eros will kill us if he thinks we’re there for anything but complete debauchery, right? And gargoyles kind of have a reputation for ruining that kind of fun.”
He continues ignoring me.
Whatever.
As we get closer, we hear the temple music.
It grows in volume and rhythm with each step forward, some strange song with unidentifiable instruments and loud bass that thumps even the ground beneath our feet.
We exchange a look, then continue through the jungle a little more slowly until we reach the temple.
It’s made of grey brick and looks simple from the outside, but I can feel the power of the glamour washing over the structure. The glamour is strong, stronger than anything I could create.
Then, I hear laughter.
We both freeze and watch as two humans emerge from a path to one side. The man and woman are touching, grabbing each other, and stumbling toward the temple.
Frowning, I close my eyes, feeling for magic. There, just on the edge of my awareness, is Eros’ magic. It has little effect on immortals, but it’s strong enough to lure humans anywhere close by straight to him.
“Come on,” Byron whispers.
We step out of the shadows and a brilliant golden light suddenly illuminates the massive door that leads into the temple.
I look to Byron. “Should we be worried?”
“Just be careful. We get in, get what we need, and get out.”
My eyes widen. “We’re stealing from him!”
He shushes me, grabbing my arm. “Are you trying to get us killed?”
“No, but apparently you are! I’m not doing this.”
His eyes narrow. “You’re not doing anything except staying where I can see you while I get what I came here for.”
“Fuck,” I mutter. “You’re insane.”
“Just keep up.” He holds the cuffs up. “Or these go right back on.”
I don’t want to do this, but I obey. He might think it’s because he has some control over me, but he doesn’t.
The thing is, Eros is completely insane, and he has been known to impose awful punishments.
If he finds a gargoyle in his temple, he’s going to be suspicious.
I have a feeling that I can help the situation if needed.
I am a decently attractive woman, after all, and Eros is the god of lust. I’m sure he’d love to find one of my kind in his temple, as long as he thought I was there to feed his powers. For some kind of hot sex.
I stay with this stubborn, asshole gargoyle, not because I have to, but because I don’t want him getting killed. Even though he’s a jerk.
We creep up the steps. The instant our feet touches the first step, the temple transforms. Instead of looking like ancient stone with green moss growing slowly up the abandoned structure, it looks the way it did when it was first built. With polished stone, and a beauty that swells from it.
When we move inside the entrance, we both pause. White stone pillars are in a circle on the outside of the massive room. In the center, a pool of crystal blue water bubbles. Along the outside of the pool? Humans fuck on the dozen or so beds that form a perfect circle.
My jaw drops.
I shouldn’t be so surprised. Eros is the god of lust after all, but I didn’t expect this for a second. A few humans having sex on the floor? Yes. But a dozen of them on white, fluffy beds with clear curtains around them? Not so much.
It’s probably a glamour. All this beauty and elegance stinks of a glamour, but it’s a very convincing one.
“There!” Byron whispers.
I follow his gaze. Across the room, in a little alcove with a small light beaming down on it is an ugly little statue. The man-thing has a twisted face, large breasts, and a cock that’s longer than the little statue itself.
“That’s what we’re risking our lives for?” I hiss under my breath.
He ignores me and takes a step forward.
I catch his arm. Eros’ people emerge from the shadows of the little rooms tucked in the darkness beyond the pillars.
They’re tiny creatures, painted in gold, with little loin cloths covering their junk.
They carry stone mugs with blue liquid that they pass them out to the people.
The humans stop their activities long enough to drain the drinks, then the little creatures take the empty cups back.
“Drugs?” Byron whispers.
“I bet they have a drop of ambrosia in them.”
A drop would do nothing to an immortal, but a human? It was like a horny pill, keeping them aroused all night long.
“Come on,” he murmurs, then leads me carefully around the outside of the room, trying to keep us in the shadows.
Shit. I guess we better just hope no one spots us. Great plan… really great.
To my shock, we reach the statue without being spotted, and Byron hands the figure to me. I stare at it in confusion. He points at my dress.
Is he serious? Oh right, his outfit’s already bursting off. He has zero chance of concealing it there.
Glaring at him, I grab it and stuff it under my dress, cradling it near my belly like a baby.
Then, we turn and start back. Which is exactly when the shit hits the fan.
One of the little creatures is suddenly in front of us, staring in excitement. He takes Byron’s arm and pulls him toward the center of the room. I try to take a step back, but two more of the creatures are behind me, pushing me forward.
It’s hard to breathe. Do they know what we are? Do they know why we’re here?
And are we lucky enough to be here without Eros?
They take us to one of the beds. The only empty one.
For a second we both blink stupidly, and then Byron spins toward me, grabs me, and shoves me down on the bed.
I give a shriek of surprise, and then he’s on top of me, careful of the statue.
There’s no time to react, no time to think, when Byron’s lips suddenly touch mine.
For a minute, they’re crushing, frantic, and then our kiss changes.
His mouth gentles, and it’s like the air in the room changes too.
I hold myself still, and slowly feel myself relax.
His lips are nice. Warm. Shockingly gentle.
I sigh and lift one of my hands to tangle into the back of his hair, drawing him closer.
He pulls back from the kiss. His face is inches from mine. And for a second I’m lost in his intense gaze. His hazel eyes, a beautiful scattering of gold across a greenish-blue, seem to draw me in.
For the first time, I’m tempted to touch his face. To run my fingers along his scruff of a beard. I want to know if it feels as rough as it looks. And I want to know what his expressive eyes will do if I touch him.
I feel his hand move up my outer thigh. I can’t breathe for a painful second as his fingertips graze the skin of my hip, and then, I nearly jerk in surprise as he grabs the figure against my stomach.
Regret makes my chest ache. That’s what this is all about. The figure. Putting a show on for Eros’ people, so they don’t know why we’re here. The look I thought I saw in his eyes… the way I thought the kiss changed… it was all a load of shit.
He moves the statue so it’s lying to the side of us, still in my skirts. Then, he rises above me and undoes his shirt.